# US jobless claims fall to 189,000 in the week to 31 October

> The Labor Department's advance figure for initial claims was 189,000 in the week ended 31 October, down 6,000 from a revised 195,000 the week before. The four-week average fell to 194,750.

- Canonical URL: https://forextradingcommunity.com/news/us-jobless-claims-189000-week-ended-31-october-2026/
- Type: Data
- Published: 2026-11-06
- Updated: 2026-11-06
- Publisher: Forex Trading Community (https://forextradingcommunity.com), FTC Editorial Team
- Currencies: USD

Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell to a seasonally adjusted 189,000 in the week ended 31 October 2026, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week's revised level. The Labor Department published the figures on 5 November 2026 ([US Department of Labor: Unemployment insurance weekly claims, 5 November 2026](https://oui.doleta.gov/press/2026/110526.pdf)). The advance figure is a first estimate and can be revised.

## Key figures

- **Initial claims, advance**: 189,000 for the week ended 31 October
- **Prior week, revised**: 195,000 (first reported as 194,000)
- **Four-week average**: 194,750, down 2,250
- **Insured unemployment rate**: 1.1% for the week ended 24 October, unchanged
- **Insured unemployment**: 1,718,000 for the week ended 24 October, up 23,000

## Unadjusted figures

Before seasonal adjustment, states reported 176,698 initial claims, down 2,951 (1.6%) on the week. The seasonal factors had expected a rise of 2,539 (1.4%). A year earlier, in the comparable week of 2025, there were 216,026 unadjusted claims.

The previous week's report is [US jobless claims eased to 194,000 in the week to 24 October](/news/us-jobless-claims-194000-week-ended-24-october-2026/). The October payrolls report is due today: see [US jobs report for October due Friday 6 November](/news/us-jobs-report-october-2026-preview/). For how traders handle jobs data, see [how to trade non-farm payrolls](/news/how-to-trade-non-farm-payrolls/).

## Sources

- [US Department of Labor: Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims (5 November 2026)](https://oui.doleta.gov/press/2026/110526.pdf)

## Common questions

### What were initial jobless claims in the week ended 31 October 2026?

The advance figure was 189,000, seasonally adjusted, down 6,000 from a revised 195,000, according to the Labor Department.

### What was the four-week average of jobless claims?

194,750 in the week ended 31 October 2026, down 2,250 from the revised average the week before.

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